It's Atkins Over Benn for State Rep in the 14th Middlsex District

On a night filled with good news for Democrats across the board, state Rep. Cory Atkins could party like it was 1999, which is when she won the 14th Middlesex seat she'll hang onto after a challenge from Michael Benn, a Republican from her hometown of Concord.

Reached by phone not long after Elizabeth Warren’s victory speech, Atkins spoke excitedly about a bout teamwork among Massachusetts Democrats leading up to Election Day.

“What I’m proud of is all of the Democrats,” Atkins said, "Because we worked so hard on coordinating campaigns and it really worked to our advantage. We worked so hard for each other.”

The 14th Middlesex District includes the towns of Concord and Carlisle, along with precincts 1, 2 and 6 in Acton and precincts 1 and 9 in Chelmsford.

By beating Benn, survived a second consecutive challenge from her hometown. In 2010, she defeated independent candidate K.C. Winslow, also of Concord. She had nothing but kind words for her most recent opponent.

“He was a perfect gentleman, and I really appreciate that,” Atkins said.

Although excited about the events of Nov. 6, Atkins was a bit more somber looking at the road ahead.

“We’re going to have to make some hard choices this year, because revenues are already down; so we’re going to have to deal with a sluggish economy again,” she said. “We’re also going to have to bit the bullet on transportation, and we’re going to have to come up with a massive plan on that.”